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The Gerontologist 42:392-398 (2002)
© 2002 The Gerontological Society of America

Would Older Medical Patients Use Psychological Services?

Patricia A. Areán, PhDa, Jennifer Alvidrez, PhDa, Alinne Barrera, BSa, Gia S. Robinson, BSa and Scotia Hicks, BSa

a Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

Correspondence: Patricia A. Areán, PhD, UCSF Department of Psychiatry, 401 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143. E-mail: pata{at}lppi.ucsf.edu.

Decision Editor: Eleanor S. McConnell, RN, PhD

Purpose: This study examines older patient preferences for psychological services, including the types of services they would be interested in and who should provide them. Design and Methods: We surveyed 183 primary care patients aged 55 and older on their current level of psychiatric distress and preferences for psychological services. Results: Seventy-nine percent of this sample said they would use any of the psychological services we presented to them. Seventy-two percent preferred to talk to their primary care provider, and 46% of the sample indicated that they would also speak with a mental health worker or nurse about their problems. Few older people said they would attend group psychotherapy, but 69% said they would attend psychoeducational classes. Implications: Our findings suggest that older adults would be amenable to psychosocial services, particularly individual services and psychoeducational programming. Policy makers interested in improving the quality of mental health treatment in primary care medicine should consider the inclusion of psychological services as a treatment option.

Key Words: Psychological services • Preferences • Older adults • Primary care medicine




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